Wednesday, August 31, 2011

1. Do you believe that the things you own end up owning you?
Yes…I’m being held hostage by my underwear as we speak.

2. Do you have any scars you’d be willing to tell us about?
Sure

3. Do you wear jewelry?
No, I use it to fight off garden gnomes and neighbor cats

4. Do you read?
Never learned how. I just mash down on the keyboard. If a word looks too long, I hit the spacebar.

5. Say your worst enemy calls you at 2 AM. What do you do?
“Your worst enemy calls you at 2 AM. What do you do?”

6. How would you feel if you found out there was a gremlin living in your computer?
Relief. It would explain so much.

7. What is your favorite hypothetical personality disorder?
What do you mean, “hypothetical?” We take offense at that.

8. What’s your favorite curse word?
Mecrob

9. What are three things you can’t live without?
Heart, lungs, and brain.

10. Can you drive?
I don’t like golf

11. Do you give in easily?
It depends on how close the shooter is

12. What toothpaste do you use?
Green icing

13. Would you rather have money or love?
Yes

14. Do you listen to the radio?
No, I just sniff it a little

15. Have you ever felt forgotten or overlooked by a loved one?
No, never. I am always the center of attention, the life of the party, and the belle of the ball. ALWAYS, ALL the time, FOREVER. My life is a never-ending whirlwind of love and excitement.

Monday, August 29, 2011

All of the entries were really creative. I wanted to let everyone win, but…well, I’m actually down to my last few glass tiles so I had to limit my winners to only 3 (frowny face!). But if you didn’t win this time, don’t fret! I’ll have another blog contest soon enough.

To the winners, send your shipping address to beckahrah (at) gmail.com, and I'll send you back my design templates. You can choose any one that you like, or if you don't like any of them, you can send me a pic of what you would like made into a glass tile pendant.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Many of my stories don’t end with “Happily Ever After.” I catch a lot of flack for that sometimes, from friends, from family...even from other writers. I’ve even been told before that, “I never would have read that if I knew it didn’t have a happy ending.” I had one person flat-out refuse to finish one of my stories when he found out it didn’t end the way he wanted.

I get it. Tragedies are hard, and often unpopular. But sometimes they’re also the right thing to do. And I’m not talking about those Lifetime Movie tragedies; those are cheap, emotional swill and we all know it. I’m talking about tragedies that mean something. Stories of sacrifice and honor and bravery. Stories where the hero throws himself at the monster even though he knows it will mean his death. Stories where even though it ends in tragedy and the heroes die, good ultimately prevails thanks to their sacrifice.

Don’t get me wrong; the hero and his princess riding off into the sunset has its place. Sometimes Andy escapes from Shawshank, Hazel defeats Woundwart, and Tiny Tim lives. But sometimes Juliet stabs herself through the heart, Boxer gets turned into glue, and Carton gets his head chopped off. Sometimes the Princess is a heinous bitch who sends her lover into the tiger’s den.

To end it happily simply because it is more pleasant or popular doesn’t make it good, just as ending it in tragedy doesn’t make it bad. Happy endings must be earned. They must be hard. Andy escaped from Shawshank not by an eleventh hour pardon or a fair trial, but by dragging himself through an eternity of darkness and filth after 27 years in prison. Darnay wins his freedom and his family not through a pretty speech or the villain’s sudden change of heart, but through the ugly death of a good man. Dantes gets his revenge and finds peace, but never reunites with Mercedes.

In a way our characters, our worlds, are more real than we are. They are immortal in a way we will never be. Their stories can echo through the ages and affect lives in ways we can only dream of. Ebeneezer Scrooge changed the way the world celebrated Christmas, and he is more famous than Dickens. Romeo and Juliet changed the way the world looked at love, and they are more famous than Shakespeare.

We are gods in their worlds, but mere pawns and messengers in our own. We owe it to our creations to tell it right. Even when the ending is hard or unpleasant. If they are to be remembered, their tales must be told the right way, not the easy way.

Nothing is free. Everybody dies, but not everyone gets to die for something.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Blogger is being a poopie head again, claiming I posted my Creativity Exercise this morning when I clearly posted it yesterday afternoon. BLEH.

Anyway, this is just a quick reminder that today is the last day to enter my blog contest, which can be found by clicking on this link...or just scrolling down a bit. You can enter more than once, but you can't win more than once, if that makes any sense.

Good luck to the entrants, and I'll announce the winners probably Monday, but perhaps tomorrow if I get up enough gumption. No promises though. I likes my sleepin' in on Saturdays. :)

Thursday, August 25, 2011

I thought perhaps a Creativity Exercise was in order, to stimulate your imaginative juices for my blog contest. Tomorrow is the last day to enter, by the way, so wrack your brains. Come up with a bland, boring "telling" sentence, rework it into a witty, duodenum-seizure-inducing "showing" sentence, then post them both in the comments section below THIS POST by tomorrow night. Winners get a free glass tile pendant depicting whatever they want, although I do specialize in writing gods/patron saints, etc., and pinup zombies.

1. What do you think is the most popular name known to man?
Candy Stripper (no, that’s not misspelled)

2. What color is your fridge?
I’m not a racist, I don’t see “color.” But it’s SUCH a stereotypical Day-Glo orange.

3. How many children do you want?
For what? To eat? That’s just sick…maybe just one little one.

4. Have you ever jumped up and down on a bed?
No, I only jump side-to-side or diagonally.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Thank you SO MUCH to Deirdra Eden over atA Storybook World for this awesome blog award!! The Powerful Woman Writer Award! How cool is that?? And what beautiful artwork! Thank you so much for the honor. I'll wear it proudly. :D

In addition, I have some news.

I got a partial request.

From...

...wait for it...

...well, I know it's gauche to share specifics, so let's just say it starts with a "J" and ends with "wocky."

Can you say "dream agency?" I knew you could.

I'm Just! So! EXCITED!!

I'm walking on sunshine, even at 9:50 at night, and I gots to sing about it.

Oh, and for those who also submitted to Angry Robot, Donna did a wrap-up post over at herblog.Check it out! Interesting stuff.

Monday, August 22, 2011

I know everyone and their dog has blogged/read/written articles about the topic of "Telling vs. Showing." But this one's different. It's for swag.

I was watching Frasier the other night (Best. Show. Ever. Outside of Dexter and South Park, anyway...) and I was tickled pink by one of his witty turns of phrase. Niles says something like, "I went to the gym to pump some iron and worked up quite a sweat." To which Frasier replies, "Pump iron? Niles, you don't even pump your own gas."

He could have just said, "I know you don't go to the gym; just look at those flimsy muscles!" But no; they went with something clever and almost ridiculous, and thereby made their point so much better. Delightful.

I'm a sucker for wit and irony anyway--probably why I enjoy that show so much--but it made me wonder, how else can we writers"show" rather than "tell," and elicit a chuckle?

I came up with a few examples (some inspired by Frasier and some not):

Telling: John was sad and poor. Showing: On Christmas Eve, John got mugged walking home from the soup kitchen.

Telling: Mary loves pop culture. Showing: Mary spent the night in jail after Tom Cruise caught her stealing his garbage for her “collection.”

Telling: Hank can be a sore loser.Showing: Hank broke his son’s leg trying to win a three-legged-race at the church picnic.

Your turn! Come up with a bland & uninspired "telling" sentence, then rework it into a dazzling, mind-blowing, rib-tickling "showing" sentence and put them both in the comments section below this post by Friday, August 26th (oh, and, ya know...follow my blog :D). The wittiest comment (or comments) wins a free glass tile pendant of whatever the winner(s) want.

I have lots of inspirational writing gods/patrons, etc., which you can peruse at your leisure HERE, as well as HERE. I also have a smattering of retro/rockabilly-style zombies which haven't been set in glass yet but the templates are still pretty awesome. Or I can make it of anything else you want.

This was totally unplanned, and I have no set number of pendants that I'll give away. At least 1, of course, but perhaps as many as 5. I don't know. It all depends on how much you all delight me.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

WOW, first drafts really do suck. I’ve been slogging through book 2 for a while now, distressingly uninterested in my own work. I was woefully uninspired, and it showed. I knew it, too.

I’d written a few chapters (see the neat little WIP-O-Meter at the upper right hand corner of this blog), but I wasn’t really feeling it. Especially chapter one. The writing seemed fine, I guess, but I wasn’t happy with it. It just seemed boring, somehow. She sits at the top of a cliff and listens to the wind and contemplates how she got there. Meh. BLECH. Pa-TOOEEEY!!

I hated myself for it, but I couldn’t come up with anything better.

I was effervescent when inspiration finally slapped me across the face. A fight scene! Deep in the jungle, with our heroes chopping off their enemies’ heads like cauliflower. Sprinkle in some backstory (why are they chopping off heads?) and character development (how does chopping off those heads make them feel?), and it’s SOOOOO much better now!

Yaaaaay!

I suspect now that I was feeling just a bit discouraged and frustrated (I know, I know…a writer? Feeling discouraged? Since when??). And why should I bother with Book 2 if Book 1 sucks? Plus I was beginning to fear I was one of those writers who just has the one book in them, maybe a short story or two, but that’s it. It used to be so easy for me, but now...not so much.

But when I learned my Angry Robot Reader bumped me up to the editor’s desk, it put a little spring back in my creative step. And that was the version from 5 months ago, which isn’t even as good as the current one.

I just get inside my own head too much. The constant worry about all the writing "rules," the twisted stomach over whether or not I could come up with synopses for the next 2 books on demand (should the unthinkable happen and I get offered a book deal), the incessent querying/rejection/no response hate spiral...

But now that's over. Well, for now. Speaking of which, I should be finishing up the rewrite of chapter one and moving on to chapter two...

Ah, it’s nice to have the “itch” back. You know the one, when you bite your lip and drum your fingers because you can’t wait to get back to your story.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

I have the disconcerting sensation that if my characters ever came to life, they'd go straight for my throat. Not unlike the powerful beast controlled through magic that would immediately seek revenge upon its tormentor (me) if it ever gained its freedom. I've had my dearest friends and family members read my stories and look up at me, an expression of mild horror and shock in their watery eyes, and say, "You're so MEAN!! How can you do that to (insert character name here)??"

Heehee. I am mean to my characters. It's good for them.

I might feel terrible about the various ways in which I ruin their lives if they didn't make for such tantalizing storylines. But I like the hard endings, the ones other authors often lack the intestinal fortitude to put to paper. Not always, mind you; I enjoy the happy ending as much as anybody else (well, maybe not quite as much as ANYBODY else), but only if it's organic to the story. That cheesy "Deus-ex-machina" crap makes me want to hurl. The book. Into the author's face. Just because you don't want to see Sally die doesn't mean she shouldn't.

Ok...so I may enjoy tormenting my characters. A little. Hey, it's my job, right? If I don't kidnap my MC's pregnant beloved and maroon her on a desert island filled with poisonous coconuts and man-eating-zombies, then who will? And if I don't give our hero's beloved an incurable poisoned coconut addiction and a new zombified crack-dealing boyfriend (and newborn twins - who may or may not be the hero's brother's children) just as he is about to rescue her, then who will?

No one, that's who. And then we have no story.

No one wants to read about the ever-smiling, picture-perfect Smith family attending the church picnic and living in perfect harmony, whose biggest problems include unexpected pimples or getting grass stains out of Johnny's football uniform. We want to watch characters grow and change and react to tragedy. Call me when the youngest Smith daughter spontaneously combusts and Dad enters a downward spiral of alcoholism and gay porn, Mom can't stop repainting the kitchen, and Brother Johnny embraces Satanism and a magic marker addiction. But in the end, they all learn a valuable lesson about love and togetherness and what it means to be a family.

So, as Mr. Wendig urges (in the post linked to below), don't be afraid to "put the irons to [your characters'] feet." It's the only way they'll learn.

Monday, August 15, 2011

As you may or may not know, I love to write to music. Some of my best ideas came about while I was driving around listening to music that would have made a good 'soundtrack' to the scene I was puzzling over.

Thanks to my cousin, I have found some new music to aid me: Mumford and Sons. Yes, yes, they've been around for years, apparently, but I despise the radio (and my car antenna's broken anyway), so I hadn't heard anything by them before we went to see Rise of Planet of the Apes. We were driving down 75 toward the theater and he was playing this awesome song off his mp3 player. Now, normally I don't enjoy the banjo as a rule. But I listened for awhile and eventually I said, "Huh. This is pretty good. Who is this?" And he was only too happy to oblige and we listened to "Little Lion Man" and "The Cave" all the way there and all the way back.

American folksy music with a British accent. Awesome.

By the time we got back to my Mom's house, I had a whole chapter outlined in my head. It's nice, too, because up until now the only songs I'd been able to use were dark and sad (and thus were my chapters), and now I have happy ones.

Normally I keep Muse and Enya close at hand, and for this WIP I've been using "Hurt" (both NIN & Johnny Cash), "Harder to Breathe" by Maroon 5, "Possibility" by Lykke Li, and various other dark and brooding tunes, which has resulted in a very dark and brooding book thus far. Don't get me wrong, that's what I'm going for in the beginning, but I get involved in my stories (not that any of you would know anything about that, right?), so I've been as depressed as my characters. But now, ah, a ray of hope! I see the light through the clouds, swiftly approaching in another couple of chapters! Huzzah!!!

What kinds of music do you like to write to (if you do, indeed, write to music)?

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Ok, I've officially caved...I now have a Twitter account. Building a web presence, and all of that. You know how it goes.

I'd love some more followers/people to follow, but I don't know how many of you lovely people have Twitter accounts. Post your twitter address in the comments below and I'll gladly follow you, and it'd be splendiferous if anyone wishes to do the same! I've put up a little widget off to your right, or you can just go here:

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

At the gentle urging of Miss Java from QT & AW, I gave the Angry Robot people a tentative, uber-formal, and grossly apologetic nudge about my full MS submission of Eyes of Stone, since I sent it in on March 2nd and had yet to hear back from them.

Good thing I did, because my reader meant to send it on to the editorial staff some time ago, but her email played a cruel joke on the both of us and it never got sent on.

Until today!!

Oh, I'm missing the scope of this announcement:

MY NOVEL WAS PASSED UP TO THE EDITORIAL STAFF AT ANGRY ROBOT BOOKS!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SQUEEEE!!!!!

I almost had to stay home from work from all the joy. Anyway, my reader (Liz) emailed me to apologize for the wayward communications and she said she LOVED Eyes of Stone. All caps L-O-V-E-D!!! Then Lee emailed me to apologize for the frustration and assure me that my MS would be read ASAP.

I don't suck!! Not even a little!!

I may pass out! I'm SO EXCITED!! I have to use so! Many! Exclamation! Points!!!!

Congrats! You've each won a glass tile pendant! Shoot me an email (to beckahrah @ gmail.com) with your shipping information, and I will email you the templates I have already, but you can request a different one if you like. I can make any picture, drawing, etc. into a pendant, and since I'm custom-making each of them anyway, it's no trouble to make you whatever you'd like.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Well, the scholarship award reception wasn't nearly as painful as I'd feared. A lot of fancy desserts and even more standing around waiting for them to call my name. I spent the better part of an hour harassing my friend Ashley via text message. She wouldn't answer so I texted her the Smurfs theme song (which goes something like, "La LA la la-la-la, la la la la laaaa, la LA la la-la-la, la la la la laaaaa."). When that didn't work, I called her a terrible friend and proceded to text her all the lyrics to the Lonely Island song "The Creep." Still no response. :P Ah, well. By then it was over and my husband David & I were sneaking out the back so we could get home in time for him to get to work.

So that was my Thursday night! Rather eventful. :D

Today is the last day to enter my blog contest!! Leave a comment under THIS POST for a chance to win free custom-made jewelry! Winners will be announced Monday.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Today's a half-day for me at work. I get to leave at 4 PM...to race across town in my non-air-conditioned car during the heat of the day on one of the hottest days of the year to accept a scholarship that will pay for all my tuition and books for the next year.

Worth it.

Also, tomorrow's the last day to enter my blog contest! Just post a comment under this post, and the winners will be announced Monday. Three lucky winners will receive a free glass tile pendant made by yours truly in whatever design they so desire.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

You’ve spent countless hours preparing, making sure everything is perfect. You’ve done your research, asked others who have been there before you, and now you’re salivating to hit the ‘send’ button out to the agent of your dreams. You're uber-polite and formal, as professional as you can possibly be. You haven't queried another agent at this agency within the last month or so, and you've verified that they read your genre. You have the format down and everything is in the proper order. Greeting (using the agent's name), hook, description, word count, bio, why you are querying this agent, offer to send chapters, thank you (etc.). If there was a way to bow or curtsy via email, you'd do that, too.

Should you spellcheck again? Give it one last read-through for good measure? No, you assure yourself with a swift slice of your hand through the air. It's been through Query Letter hell 87 times. All the bloggers and forums have declared there's nothing else they can do for you; your query is brilliant and life-changing and sure to be the next best seller (or, you know, whatever). Enough dilly-dallying! You hit the ‘send’ button.

Too late, you realize that you sent it out to‘Ms. Agent’ instead of ‘Mr. Agent.’

BAM!! Form rejection!!

NO SOUP FOR YOU!! Come back, three months.

Of course, it could be because of some much larger mistake than that, but the despair is the same.

I haaaaaate querying!!!!!

Anyway, only a few days left to enter my blog contest for free jewelry! All you have to do is follow my blog and leave a comment under the contest announcement post (which is immediately beneath this one) by Friday.

Also, I think I forgot to mention this before, but the pendant designs are NOT restricted to only writing gods, etc. I can make any design you’d like. Goldfish, keyboards, toilets, liquor bottles, asparagus, ghosts, family photos…whatever. I’m awesome like that.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Today is the 5-month anniversary of my blog, and it just so happens to also be the 100th post!! I didn’t plan that, I swear. It’s hard to believe that I’ve accumulated 77 followers (although probably less than 15 of you actively follow my blog, lol) and almost 3,000 views in such a short time!

To thank everyone for making me feel loved and quasi-talented and all, I’m having another blog contest, with more FREE JEWELRY! YAAAAAAAAAAY!!

This one’s easier than my last blog contest. Just be a follower of my blog and post a comment below this post by, oh, let's say Friday, August the 5th. I’ll randomly select 3 people and they’ll each get a free glass tile pendant handmade by yours truly. I can make them of any picture/photo/graphic, etc., including (but not limited to) the winner's favorite writing god, muse, or patron saint. You can find my complete list HERE, and as always, if anyone knows of one I've left out, let me know and I'll add him/her/them to my list.

I'll announce the winners on Monday, August 8th, then contact them and send them my templates so they can choose which pendant they'd like. So don't forget to leave me some way to contact you if you win!! :D

Huzzah!!!

Here are some pictures of some of my pendants, but you can see others I have made HERE, at my etsy shop. Picture quality is sometimes poor because my camera has a sense of humor.

WIP Count - Book 2

About Me

My name is Becky Regalado, also known throughout the internet as Beckah-Rah. I write horror short stories, satirical
essays, and novel-length fantasy. Other than that, I like to read, make
jewelry, draw marginally successful character sketches, and spend time
with my new baby, who is the most handsome genius baby in all the world!
Hence the shortage of new posts and the lack of writing I've been doing
these past few months. That is likely to continue for awhile yet, as I
am pretty much obsessed with my handsome genius baby at the moment.

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Send me your synopsis!

If your synopsis is short enough to escape the gravitational pull of my impatience (less than 1,000 words), send it my way and I'll do my darndest to smash it into little pieces for you.

My query skills are sorely lacking, so do yourself a favor and keep them away from my person.

I'm just a fellow writer who can offer a fresh perspective. I can't promise you'll like it more, or that it will be the turning point in your writing career, but it will at least be objective.

By sending it to me, you give me permission to reprint it and edit, critique, and possibly rewrite it on this blog. My intentions are just and pure, but there's no contract between us. You can always change your mind; just send me another email and I'll take it down or not post it at all.